, the eleventh sultan of the Turks, born at Adrianople, the 24th of
, the eleventh sultan of the Turks, born
at Adrianople, the 24th of March, 1430, is to be remembered chiefly by us, for taking Constantinople in 1453,
and thereby driving many learned Greeks into the West,
which was a great cause of the restoration of learning in
Europe, as the Greek literature was then introduced here.
He was one of the greatest men upon record, with regard
to the qualities necessary to a conqueror: and he conquered
two empires, twelve kingdoms, and two hundred considerable cities. He was very ambitious of the title of Great,
which the Turks cave him, and even the Christians have
not disputed it with him; for he was the first of the Ottoman emperors, whom tue Western nations dignified with
the title of Grand Seignior, or Great Turk, which posterity has preserved to his descendants. Italy had suffered
greater calamities, but she had never felt a terror equal to
that which this sultan’s victories imprinted. The inhabitants seemed already condemned to wear the turban; it is
certain that pope Sixtus IV. represented to himself Rome
as already involved in the dreadful fate of Constantinople;
and thought of nothing but escaping into Provence, and
once more transferring the holy see to Avignon. Accordingly, the news of Mahomet’s death, which happened
the ad of Mav, 1481, was received at Rome with the
greitest joy that ever was beheld there. Sixtus caused
all the churches to be thrown open, made the trades-peopld
leave off their work, ordered a feast of three days, with.
public prayers and processions, commanded a discharge
of the whole artillery of the castle of St. Angelo all that
time, and put a stop to his journey to Avignon. Some
authors have written that tbis sultan was an atheist, and
derided all religions, without excepting that of his prophet, whom he treated as no better than a leader of banditti. This is possible enough; and there are many circumstances which make it credible It is certain he engaged in war, not to promote Mahometism, but to gratify
his own ambition: he preferred his own interest to that of
the faith he professed; and to this it was owing that he
tolerated the Greek church, and even shewed wonderful
civility to the patriarch of Constantinople. His epitaph
deserves to be noted; the inscription consisted only of nine
or ten Turkish words, thus translated: “I proposed to
myself the conquest of Rhodes and proud Italy.
”